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Fostering transformation: A governance frame for large public and private organisations as change agents in transformations
No full textThis article seeks to fill a critical gap in the context of mission oriented and transformative policies by conceptualising generic governance conditions for large public and private organisations to engage constructively with the transformation of wider socio-technological systems as an ongoing learning process. So far, innovation and other policies to achieve transformative missions tend to rely on established instruments, mostly supply side, fostering research and innovation activities to move in desired directions. More sophisticated approaches stimulate absorption and diffusion of innovation and support market creation and uptake. However, for existing socio-technological systems to shift towards sustainability, constitutive actors within such systems, like large public and private organisations, need to actively foster the transformation, as a process of internal and external organisational experimentation and innovation. They are critical actors in their respective system context in two ways: in the past they have co-produced the problematic effects of existing systems; in the future they can severely influence the speed and direction of transition of systems and act as change agents towards more sustainable systems - provided they manage to transform themselves, too. Those actors are very diverse organisations, ranging from large companies, governmental funding bodies, higher education institutions, and related intermediary organisations. They are situated between the individuals and their behaviour on the one hand and the broader systems level on the other, i.e. at the meso level of systems change, where they fulfil critical systemic functions. ..
Participating in a Digital-History Project Mobilizes People for Symbolic Justice and Better Intergroup Relations Today
No full textAwareness of past atrocities is widely seen as critical for restoring justice and building resilient democracies. Going beyond information provision, an increasing number of memorial sites, museums, and historical archives offer opportunities for public participation. Yet little empirical evidence exists on the impact of participation in the collective remembrance of past atrocities. Two experimental studies, a field-in-the-lab study with 552 university students in Germany and an online randomized control trial with 900 digital workers in Germany, showed that participating in a large-scale, digital-history project about Nazi persecution increased peoples’ collective-action intentions for further commemoration activities and for activities that strengthen intergroup relations today. These effects persisted for 2 weeks. The findings suggest that digital-history projects can motivate collective action that is critical for symbolic justice and positive intergroup relations, thus contributing to well-functioning, pluralistic democracies
Procedural vs. Substantive Approaches in Non-Comprehensive Contracts
No full textIn this study, we examine two adjudication methods designed to resolve disputes between principals and agents concerning bonus payments in relationships characterized by moral hazard and where the parties have been forced to use soft, imprecise, and subjective information to align incentives. The first method is a procedural approach where the court applies preponderance-of-the-evidence to determine whether the agent acted in accordance with the contract. In the second method, the court adopts a substantive approach, treating the original contract as incomplete, thus rendering a decision based on what it believes the parties would have agreed upon had they been able to complete the contract ahead of time. From an efficiency standpoint, we find that neither method consistently outperforms the other, although the procedural approach becomes more advantageous as the effort to be implemented becomes sufficiently large
Internationalization of production in central European countries: What are the consequences for the labor market?
Get PDFThe CEE4 countries are among the most internationalized economies in the EU. Due to their high dependence on foreign final demand, particularly in the automotive sector, their labor markets are closely linked to the dynamics of the global economy. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to examine how internationalization of production (represented by offshoring) and skill-biased technological change (represented by the intensity of investments in intangible capital) impact the labor market, specifically the employment of various skill levels in CEE4 countries. We estimate employment shares equations for the three labor types derived from a translog cost function using panel data regression. The regression analysis of the panel data indicates that offshoring has a negative impact on the employment share of low- and medium-skilled labor, while having a positive impact on the employment share of high-skilled labor. Furthermore, there has been evidence that offshoring strikes low-skilled labor hardest. Furthermore, it has been confirmed that the increasing intensity of investment in intangible assets has a negative effect on the employment share of low and medium skilled labor. Our study reveals different effects of off-shoring and technological change on labor markets in the CEE4 countries. This can be important information for policy makers as well as companies that need to understand the trends of the labor market to support future developments. Furthermore, it can be an important lesson for countries that will follow a similar path of internationalization of production
Some Notes on Savage’s Representation Theorem
No full textSavage's famous representation theorem is based on seven postulates of rational choice. We resolve some loose ends in the literature concerning the relationship between different versions of Savage's axioms. This leads us to the present form of the representation theorem. We also discuss some issues regarding the historical development of Savage's representation theorem
Mutual Knowledge of Social Norms and Political Behavior
No full textSocial norms are crucial drivers of human behavior. However, misperceptions of others' opinions may sustain norms and conforming behavior even if a majority opposes the norm. Privately shifting individuals' beliefs about true societal support may be insufficient to change behavior if others are perceived to continue to hold incorrect beliefs ("lack of mutual knowledge"). We conduct a field experiment with 5,201 women in Kyrgyzstan to test whether creating mutual knowledge about social norms affects how perceived social norms influence behavior. We show that providing information about societal support for female political activism alone does not affect women's political engagement. However, when perceived mutual knowledge is created, the effect of information about social norms increases significantly. Using vignette experiments, we show that the effect of mutual knowledge on social punishment is a plausible mechanism behind the behavioral impact. These findings suggest that higher-order beliefs about social norms are an important force linking social norms and behavior
Individuals' challenges managing pensions through retirement
Get PDFThis report is one of two reports on the management of pension wealth in retirement conducted as part of the Pensions Review, led by the Institute for Fiscal Studies in partnership with the abrdn Financial Fairness Trust. In this report, we examine the decisions that older individuals face as they draw on and manage their private pension wealth through retirement. In particular, we highlight the growing importance of defined contribution (DC) wealth, fuelled by automatic enrolment into (predominantly) DC workplace schemes, we document how retirees currently draw down on their wealth and we provide evidence for the wide range of financial risks that older people face. We utilise data provided by the Association for British Insurers, the Financial Conduct Authority, and the Office for National Statistics, as well as conducting our own new empirical analysis of household surveys. We have also benefited from insights provided by focus groups which have been run alongside this project by Ignition House. The accompanying report (Boileau, Cribb and Emmerson, 2025) uses the evidence drawn together in this report in discussing potential policy improvements to help people make good financial decisions through their retirement
Die Kosten des Klimawandels für Deutschland 2025-2050: Aus den Arbeiten zur Basisprojektion des INFORGE-Modells 2025
No full textCoexistence of banks and non-banks: Intermediation functions and strategies
No full textWhat is the essence of non-bank financial intermediation? How does it emerge and interact with intermediation performed by banks? To investigate these questions, we develop a model-based survey: we classify existing models into different intermediation functions á la Merton (1995) to show that variations of them admit a common modeling structure; then, we extend or reinterpret the resulting models to connect equilibrium strategies to non-bank activities in practice. Particular emphasis is placed on the coexistence of banks and non-banks: how their competition, or the extent of cooperation through contractual arrangements, varies across intermediation functions. Through this approach we speak to a variety of entities such as traditional banks, open-end funds, special purpose vehicles, private credit entities, and fintech lenders. We also discuss innovation, regulation, and market liquidity as drivers of non-bank activities
Aktivrente entlastet vor allem besserverdienende Rentner*innen: Mit unsicheren Beschäftigungseffekten
No full textMit der Aktivrente plant die neue Regierungskoalition eine kräftige steuerliche Begünstigung von erwerbstätigen Rentner*innen. Diese sollen bis zu 2000 Euro im Monat steuerfrei hinzuverdienen können. Die Regierung erhofft sich, damit mehr Rentner*innen zum Weiterarbeiten zu motivieren und so dem Fachkräftemangel entgegenzuwirken. Mikrosimulationsanalysen auf Basis des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP) zeigen, dass zunächst rund 230000 Rentner*innen von der Regelung profitieren würden, vor allem Besserverdienende. Dies würde jährliche Steuermindereinnahmen von 800 Millionen Euro bedeuten. Die Beschäftigungseffekte sind unsicher. Sollten 75 000 zusätzliche Rentner*innen erwerbstätig werden, dürften die Mindereinnahmen durch zusätzliche Steuer- und Beitragseinnahmen kompensiert werden. Die Einbeziehung von Selbstständigen in die Aktivrente würde höhere Mitnahmeeffekte auslösen, dürfte aber aus Gleichbehandlungsgründen notwendig sein